therealtwitch: I love the gun in the op. so much so that I found one locally that I am contemplating buying. But the owner is asking $700 for it. Is that to steep or about the norm?

Sounds high to me, but there is another way to look at this. If you want something that's basically new-in-box, it will cost you more than the average specimen, so that price might either work for you or be a starting point for negotiations.

I've learned that the timing of the older Colts is important. Before starting to haggle over price, I'd read Dfariswheel's post in the following thread: http://thefiringline.com/forums/show...09#post5345409
I printed it out and took it with me and checked the timing before I bought it. Timing was dead on, and had a stiff trigger to boot, which suggested to me it hadn't been shot much. That made it worth more than an average price to me. YMMV. (By the way, while the stiff (though smooth) trigger was a concern at first, it has worked in and is now very good - I no longer think it needs a trip to Colt for work.)